Conveyer for conduits and similar elongated articles



Feb. 3, 1953 A. c. ADAMS 2,627,340

CONVEYER FOR CONDUITS AND SIMILAR ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed Sept. 24, 1946 '5 Sheets-Sheet l i: 0 19 Min 0 WW II II-.5 E E Li? E w INVENTOR. ALBERT C. ADAMS.

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A.C.ADAMS Feb. 3, 1953 CONVEYER FOR CONDUITS AND SIMILAR ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed Sept. 24, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTFOR. ALBERT CADAMS.

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Feb. 3, 1953 A. c. ADAMS 2,627,340

CONVEYER FOR CONDUITS AND SIMILAR ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed Sept. 24, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. ALBERT C. ADAM5.

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Patented Feb. 3, 1953 CONVEYER FOR CONDUITS AND SIMILAR ELONGATED ARTICLES Albert 0. Adams, Jackson Heights, N. Y., assignor to Republic Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Application September 24, 1946, Serial No. 698,924

1 Claim.

The present invention relates generally to conveying and marking means and is particularly concerned with a novel automatic conduit printing machine.

In the manufacture of metal conduits it is customary to aflix identifying marks, such as trade names and dimension figures, upon the outside of the conduits at a plurality of points along their lengths. Heretofore, this has involved a tedious and expensive manual operation, and auto matic means which would accomplish conduit marking at a substantial reduction in costhas consequently been an important and insistent demand of conduit manufacturers. To the best of my knowledge, this demand has not been met prior to my present invention, which embraces fully automatic means for printing conduits and for accomplishing other analogous results.

Not only is the apparatus of this invention fully automatic, but it repeatedly produces clear cut and uniform conduit printing over a long period of time. Furthermore, this apparatus has a high production capacity, enabling the automatic printing of a large number of conduits in rapid succession over an almost unlimited period.

The present invention will be better understood by referring to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the specification, in which Figure l is a plan view partly in section of an assembly embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of a bracket comprising part of the clampin means of this invention;

Figure 4 is a view partly in section of the clamping means of this invention showing the section of the bracket of Fig. 3 taken on axis 4-4; and

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of the bracket element of the clamping means of this invention.

My apparatus generally comprises a conduit carrying drum D, a printing drum P, an inking roll I, an ink feeder roll F for supplying ink to roll I, clamping means C carried by drum D, and actuating means A for said clamping means.

The drum D is an elongated, hollow metal cylinder having end walls connected to two axially disposed shafts [0. One of the shafts is connected to a drive shaft of a motor M for driving the drum, and both the shafts are mounted in bearings carried by bearing blocks l2.

Clamping means 0 are attached to the drum D and comprise a bracket l3 permanently attached to said drum, a claw-like member l4 pivotally secured to the bracket, a toggle link I6 attached to said claw and to an arm 18 secured to a shaft l9 and secured to an arm 20 extending between and connecting the shaft l9 and a cam follower 25. The arm 20 is not movable with respect to the shaft, and the cam follower is rotatably secured to said arm 28. These various parts are secured together in such a manner that movement of the cam follower with respect to the drum D results in movement of the arms l8 and 20 and the toggle link, and movement of the claw with respect to the bracket I3 to open or close the clamp thereby to secure or release a conduit disposed in the said bracket of the clamping means. Thus, actuating means A comprises a cam means, including cam follower 25, and shaft IS.

The bracket I3 is seen to best advantage in Fig. 5 where it is illustrated in perspective without the complications of the associated parts of the clamping means C including claw member l4, shaft I9 and drum D. This bracket is constructed in three parts, the main body portion being of metal and there being two Micarta inserts I5 secured in place against the bracket body by means of bolts 2| (Fig. 3) to receive and support a conduit in position for engagement with the claw 14 as shown in Fig. 2. The metal body portion of bracket l3 has a projection or arm portion 22 which is provided with a bore in which shaft I9 is received so that the shaft is supported at spaced locations along its length.

Toggle link It as shown in Fig. 4 comprises an open tubular shell 69, a pair of blocks H1 disposed within the shell, a compression spring H in the shell and between blocks 10 and bearing upon and holding these blocks apart, and a pin 12 which extends longitudinally through the center of spring H and has its end portions positioned in recesses provided in the opposed faces of blocks 10 whereby the spring is retained in position and the blocks are maintained in alignment.

The cam means with which the cam follower 25 cooperates includes a cam member 30 having a groove 3| to receive and guide cam follower 25. The cam assembly is braced by a metal plate 35 which is secured to the back of member 39 and straddles pillow blocks 36. The member 30 is apertured to receive the shaft [0 of drum D which is connected to the drive shaft of motor M.

Ten clamps are secured to the drum D in five pairs disposed at substantially diametrically opposite points on said drum. Two series of five clamps each are thus arranged substantially in alignment along the drum and are actuated by the shafts I9 which are connected to the cam followers so that actuation of each of the individual clamps of each of the series is synchronous with all the other clamps of the same series.

Conduits to be conveyed and printed by the apparatus of this invention are suitably delivered in succession in engagement with the Micarta inserts it of the successive sets of brackets 13 carried by drum D by means of a loading frame L fragmentarily shown in Fig. 2. Frame L as seen in this view comprises an inclined platform fill, the lower end of which is adjacent to drum D Where a stop 64 is provided for engagement with the lower-most conduit next to be lifted from the loading platform by the clamping means C as the drum is rotated. A conduit guide plate '65is also secured to the lower end of frame L to assure re tention in Micarta inserts 15 during the period between the conduit pick up from frame L and movement of the claws l4 into clamping engagement with the conduit. I

These Micarta inserts 15 are bodies of molded plastic material mixed with filler which are shaped to fit brackets l3 and to receive and support conduits to be carried by these brackets. The term Micarta is a trade name of the W estinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company and is well known and well defined in the trade as, for example, in Handbook of Plastics by 81- monds and Ellis, pages 215 to 218 (D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1943). y

In the operation of the illustrated conveying and printing equipment conduits to be printed are loaded on the frame L. The motor M is started, and drums D and P are rotated synchronously by means of gear wheels 86 so that a printing form T reaches the point opposite drum D when the conduit to be printed most closely approaches drum P in the course of rotation of drum D. The inking roll I also rotates and engages and inks form T with each revolution of drum P. As the conduits are lifted from the frame L by the clamping means C and the drum D is rotated, the conduits are carried individually into engagement with the form, and then are released.

As the clamping means C is moved around the track of the cam when the drum D is rotated in accordance with the urging of the motor M, the cam follower 25 causes the arm 23 to move relative to drum D. This movement of arm it results in clamping movement of the claw id to grip a conduit against the bracket 53. Thus, when the clamping means is brought past the lower end of the platform L, the claw l3 engages the conduit, together with the other four claws of the clamping means of the series, and the conduit is lifted from the frame, and then dropped into the recess of each bracket it, where each of the claws firmly retains the conduit. Thus a conduit lifted from the platform by the outwardly extending portion of claw 14 comes to rest in the recesses provided in Micarta inserts 15 of the aligned brackets. Further rotational movementof the rum results in pivoting motion of the claw member relative to the conduit and the bracket holding it until the inwardly extending portion of the claw comes into engagement with the conduit and in cooperation with the bracket secures the conduit in place as indicated at the left side of drum D in Fig. 2. In this position the conduit is brought adjacent the drum P, where it is en-- gaged with the form T. As the drum D is further rotated, the cam follower guiding the thus printed conduit causes the claw to move relative to the bracket to release the conduit at a point above the upper end of the platform U. Further rotation of the drum brings the claw into engagement with another conduit on frame L to repeate the cycle.

Having thus described the present invention so that others skilled in the art may understand and practice the same, I state that What I desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined in What is claimed.

What is claimed is:

Apparatus for handling elongated metal conduits comprising an elongated horizontal drum rotatable about its axis, means for delivering elongated metal conduits in sequence adjacent to said drum, mechanism associated with said drum for automatically removing the conduits in sequence from said delivery means and discharging said conduits in sequence at another location, said mechanism including a plurality of sets of brackets arranged circumferentially of the drum and attached in fixed position relative to the drum, each said set of brackets including a plurality of brackets spaced lengthwise of the drum and each bracket having a recessed portion in which to receive a conduit disposed lengthwise of said drum, a claw-like member pivotally carried by each bracket to engage a conduit on said delivery means and to clamp a conduit against said brackets, and means for moving said clawlike members into position to engage and pick-up a conduit from the delivery means and then to clamp the conduit against a set of the brackets while the drum is rotated and finally to release and discharge the conduit, said moving means comprising a cam stationary relative to the drum, a separate rotatable shaft carried by each set of brackets, arms connected to said shafts and carrying followers engaging said earn, and links connecting the claw-members of each set of brackets with the adjacent shaft for movement of the claw-members about their pivots.

ALBERT C. ADAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 334,274 Norton Jan. 12, 1836 474,163 Gunny May 3, 1892 1,108,193 Lang Aug. 25, 1914 1,164,272 Farnum Dec. 1915 1,285,774 Middleditch Nov. 26, 1918 1,334,822 Varble Mar. 23, 1929 1 1,344,067 Simpson June 22, 1920 1,351,830 Bradford Sept. 7, 1.929 2,015,669 Gravely Oct. 1, 1935 2,337,523 Stuckert et al. Dec. 21, 1943 2,364,163 Pearson Dec. 5, 1944 2,409,368 Lipton Oct. 15, 1946 

